Taking over

The TakeOver Festival, created by York Theatre Royal, allowed under 26s to take an active part in running the theatre for three weeks. Young people were recruited across all areas of the theatre – from education to administration and everything in between. I heard about the festival through the youth theatre, of which I am a member, and really wanted to be involved. It was a unique project because it gave us real experience of working in a theatre, allowing us to make vital decisions in the running of the Festival. As a member of the TakeOver Board, I attended weekly meetings on every aspect of the festival, including workshops, productions and costs. It isn’t very often that teenagers are allowed to take the reins of a business, so the project was a rare opportunity. The practical experience taught us basic business skills such as budgeting and marketing. I enjoyed having a say in the running of the festival and putting new ideas forward: because we were all young, we had a good idea what would appeal to people of our age, who were our main target audience.
 

 In the process of TakeOver, we undertook tasks such as distributing leaflets and posters throughout the city of York – we even dressed up in theatrical costumes to promote the festival. During the festival we were present in the theatre to explain the festival to visitors and provide general assistance to the public. This improved our communication skills, a lesson I will take with me in any future career. One of TakeOver’s aims was to make theatre more accessible to young people, as part of York Theatre Royal’s involvement in Arts Council England’s A Night Less Ordinary scheme. We chose plays for the festival that would appeal to all audiences, including Shakespeare’s ‘A Winter’s Tale’ and Gabriel Bisset-Smith’s play ‘A Five-Star Werewolf’, which we premiered at the festival. We were successful in encouraging more of our own age group to visit the theatre during the three weeks.
What was so enjoyable was everyone’s enthusiasm and commitment. We worked together on the Board to make sure all our ideas were listened to. We worked with all the different areas of the theatre so that we had a respect and understanding of the importance of everyone’s role and input. As an aspiring actor, I found it interesting to see all aspects of the festival, as I performed in, organised and attended the project, providing me with an overall view of what TakeOver was about. It was an enjoyable experience that I learnt from, and I hope to take part in more projects like this in the future.